THEATER REVIEW : ‘Raoul’: Cult Classic Film Becomes a Musical

The 1982 film “Eating Raoul” was a low-budget satire that grew into a cult hit. While the rest of America was swept up in the Reagan revolution, the disaffected took to the film’s Swiftian vision of a society where one must eat others or be eaten.

Now “Eating Raoul” is back, this time as a musical at Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in West Los Angeles. Mere satire might not be enough for today’s disaffected masses, as last week’s stunning electoral upsets suggest. But that’s OK, because the players in “Eating Raoul: The Musical” don’t have much time for politics or cultural criticism.

They’re too busy dancing--most memorably in skintight leather garb and fishnet stockings. And singing--mostly cabaret tunes that summon memories of “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Filmmaker-turned-librettist Paul Bartel, along with composer Jed Feuer and lyricist Boyd Graham, have turned Bartel’s movie into an over-the-top tuner that manages to make cannibalism look cute and cuddly. It’s a lot of good clean dirty fun, even if the original point gets lost amid jokes about cross-dressing and other perversions.

“Sweeney Todd” this ain’t.

Bartel’s featherweight book concerns Paul and Mary Bland (Tom McCleister and Hope Levy), an aptly named Los Angeles couple working hard to buy a small restaurant far from the city. “We’ll carry a mortgage instead of Mace,” they happily predict in one number.

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But the dream is in peril. Paul gets fired and has his car stolen. Mary fends off a lecherous bank officer who denies the restaurant loan. Desperate, the two turn to a life of crime, advertising kinky sex services and then killing and robbing the perverts who answer the ads. This soon leads them into partnership with Raoul (Rick Negron), a janitor far more practiced in crime and betrayal.

Both book and songs are little more than hat racks for choreographer Adam Shankman’s flamboyant production numbers. Don’t bother listening for trenchant rhymes or dialogue here. The only sizzle comes in routines like “Hot Monkey Love,” an homage to Marlene Dietrich’s famous “Hot Voodoo.”

If “Eating Raoul” loses its bite before the final curtain, it’s partly because some cast members--notably McCleister--seem a little distracted. Paul is supposed to be bland, yes, but not catatonic. Worse, director Scott Wittman has permitted far too many technical goofs, even for a small stage.

* “Eating Raoul: The Musical,” Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Dec. 18. $18.50-$22.50. (310) 477-2055. Running time: 2 hours, 15 minutes.